Man&#39;s undergarment



March 25, 1941. A. M. REIS.

MAN S UNDERGARMENT Filed may 22, 193s 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ammann' INVENTORATTORNEYS March m 1941., A. M REB 2,235,843

MANS UNDERGARMENT Filed May 22,`1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nimm INVENTORWM5/@W ATTCNQNEYS Patented Mar. 25, 1941 entre!) s'rarss ATENT FFICEMANS UNDERGALRMENT tion of New York Application May 22, 1939, serial Ne.274,959

8 Claims.

rIhe invention relates to mens undergarments and particularly to thattype of such undergarment as is known as shorts The invention, however,isfe-qually applicable to garments of this general type which embody legstructures of comparatively short length, overlying only a portion ofthe thighs of the wearer, or leg structures which extend the full lengthof the body to the ankles.

More particularly, the invention relates to a construction of anundergarment in which a front section, usually constituting a gore, ismade of two overlying plies ofmaterial, which iront section, when thegarment is worn, overlies the private parts of the body and usuallyextends to substantially the elastic waistband of the garment.

In structures of this type of undergarment, no conventional form of iiyopening is provided, it being necessary to insert the hand at the`elongated opening at one side of the gore, so that the hand is disposedbetween the plies of material, and then to pull aside the back ply tosubstantially the position of the opening in the side of the gore andthus provide ameans of egress for the private part of the body from thegarment.

The object of the present invention is to provide a construction ofundergarment ofthis general type, in which an easy means of egress isprovided through the material of the garment, eliminating thisobjectionable feature of the prior structures. In its broadest aspects,the invention consists in providing an elongated aperture in theunderlying ply of the duplex gore, the aperture being so placed that itruns at an angle to, or across, the wales of the material constitutingthe double ply gore, so as to have imparted to the aperture the maximumlamount of stretch. In accordance with the invention, the elongatedaperture is circumscribed by elastic stitching, or stitching andenclosed elastic cord, which will impart to the aperture `suiicientresiliency, as distinguished from the comparatively small degree ofelasticity of the fabric itself, to bring the aperture back to itsnormal, substantially closed, condition after it has been stretched. Inaccordance with the invention also, the elastic elongated aperture thusprovided is anchored to some iirm edge, for instance, one of thesubstantially inelastic tapes constituting the .sides of the duplexlgore, to one of the leg opening trimming tapes, or to the waistband.This anchoring of the elongated aperture serves to insure the returnthereof, `after it has been stretched in its function o of providing ameans of egress vfrom the `garment, to its original position in which itis substantially closed.

In accordance with my invention, therefore, I provide in an undergarmenthaving a duplex or double ply front section, a hidden openingcontributing in great measure to the comfort of the wearer of thegarment, without evidencing any external indication of the presence ofsuch opening when the garment is on the body.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated two specic embodimentsof my invention, one in which an elastic opening is applied to the'double ply front section of the garment, in a position in which it isat a substantial angle to the wales of the fabric constituting suchdouble ply '15 gore, with the means of egress thus provided beinganchored to one of the elastic tapes at the sides of the gore; and asecond embodiment, in which the means of egress is provided upon anundergarment having a leg structure, and in which garment the double plyfront section or gore tapers from the waistband towards the crotch.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is ya front view of a garment in theconstruction of which my invention has been embodied; Fig. 2 is asection on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view of the garmentturned inside out to illustrate the disposition and ancl'mring of theelongated aperture in the double plyfront section or gore; Fig. 4 is afront View of my invention as embodied in the construction of a mansundergarment having integral legs; `and Fig. 5 is a section on the line5 5 of Fig. 4.-.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in which similar referencecharacters identify similar parts in the several views, the garmentillustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, comprises a rear section iii to which ateach side are joined, by stitching il and I2, front portions I3 and It,respectively. An elastic waistband I5 extends throughout the upperperiphery of the garment. The sections It, I3 and I4 are constitutedpreferably of knitted material in which the wales extend substantiallylongitudinally of the garment, thereby imparting to the garment bodysubstantially no vertical resiliency but a transverse resiliency ofconsiderable degree.

The garment is provided with the usual leg openings I6 'and II which areprovided with trimmings I8 in the nature of tapes running through- `outthe leg openings. Such tapes are secured to the edges of the legopenings by lines of stitching I9 which may, or may not, include betweenthem an elastic cord.

The central portion or gore section of the garment extending from thehorizontal line of stitching 20 in the crotch portion, to the elasticwaistband I5, is constituted of two plies of material 2l and 22, thelatter overlying the former, the entire gore being secured on one sideby a substantially inelastic tape 23 to the front section I4 and on theother side by means of the substantially inelastic tape 24 stitched tothe front section I3 through part of its length and forming throughoutthe remainder of its length, with the underlying portion of the sectionI3, an opening extending from the point 25 of securement of the tape 24,to the opposite end of such tape at which it is secured to the legopening binding.

Extending upwardly from the line of stitching 20 in the crotch portionof the garment, is a dart structure generally designated at 26, thefunction and construction of which is set forth in my Patent No.2,140,459, December 13, 1938.

The means of egress, constituting the subject matter of the presentinvention, comprises an elongated slo-t or aperture 21 formed in theunderlying ply 2I of the gore section, such elongated aperture beingformed by stitching 28 enclosing an elastic cord. The stitching andenclosed elastic cord are anchored at the upper extremity of theelongated aperture to the substanp tially inelastic side of the goreformed by the tape 23. As shown clearly in Fig. 3, the elongatedaperture extends at an angle to the wales of the fabric constituting thegore ply, so that in addition to the inherent resiliency of theboundaries of the aperture, an additional degree of resillency isimparted to the means of egress by its disposition across the wales.

The positioning of the elongated aperture and its anchoring to one sideof the gore section imparts to the aperture the property orcharacteristic of ready stretchability and that degree of resiliencywhich will cause it to resume its original position and condition ofbeing substantially closed when the force stretching it has beenrelieved. By anchoring the elongated aperture, or rather the materialforming the same, to a firm edge, it will always return to its originalposition by reason of its own elasticity as well as the inherentresiliency of the knitted fabric in which it has been produced.Obviously the anchoring of the means of egress, as constituted by theelongated opening, may be effected at either of the two longitudinaledges of the double ply gore section and, as a matter of fact, at eventhe lower edge of the elastic waistband or either of the leg openingtapes, with nearly the same advantages secured, although not thecomplete effect which is produced by the construction illustrated.

Referring now to the garment illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, substantiallythe same structural application of my inventive concept is illustratedtherein as in the embodiment of Figs. l to 3. In this embodiment of myinvention, however, the garment comprises a rear or seat section 30 andfront sections 3l and 32, the garment having leg structures 33, 33. Thecentral gore section is, like that of the rst embodiment, constituted oftwo overlying plies of material 34 and 35, but the gore, instead oftapering upwardly, i. e. toward the waistband, tapers, by reason of theprovision of the leg structures, downwardly. However, substantially thesame construction of inelastic tapes 23 and 24 is used in this garmentwith the exception that the tape 24 is secured, instead of at the edgeof the leg opening, at a point 29 slightly above the horizontal line ofstitching 2U in the crotch section. The elongated aperture 21 is, as inthe first embodiment, anchored by its boundary edges, constituted ofstitching and enclosed elastic, to one of the inelastic tapes formingthe sides of the gore. The elongated aperture constituting the means ofegress provided in accordance with my invention is, in Ithis embodiment,at a greater angle to the wales of the gore material so that theaperture is nearly transversely disposed to such wales. 'Ihe reason fo-rthis increased angularity is the additional width of the gore at thepoint of anchorage of the means of egress. It is to be understood thatin this embodiment, also, the means of egress constituted of theelongated aperture may be anchored at either edge of the gore or to thelower edge of the elastic waistband.

While I have described specic embodiments of my invention, it is obviousthat various changes therein, particularly in the conguration anddisposition of the several parts thereof, may be made without departingfrom my invention.

I claim:

1. A mans undergarment having a front gore constituted of two plies ofknitted material and adapted to have a portion thereof overlie theprivate parts of the body when the garment is worn, the wales of atleast the underlying ply of material extending substantiallylongitudinally of the gore, said underlying ply having a means of egresstherethrough, constituted of a narrow, substantially flat elongatedaperture circumscribed by elastic stitching and extending, from a pointat one edge of the gore, where such stitching in anchored, across thewales in said underlying ply of material and terminating at a pointapproximately in the center of the gore.

2. A mans undergarment having a front gore constituted of two plies ofknitted material and adapted to have a portion thereof overlie theprivate parts of the body when the garment is worn, the wales of atleast the underlying ply of material extending substantiallylongitudinally of the gore, said underlying ply having a means of egresstherethrough, constituted oi an elongated aperture circumscribed byelastic stitching and extending, from a point at one edge of the gore,where such stitching is anchored, at an acute angle to the wales in saidunderlying ply of material.

3. A mans undergarment having a front gore constituted of two plies ofknitted material and adapted to have a portion thereof overlie theprivate parts of the body when the garment is worn, the Wales of atleast the underlying ply of material extending substantiallylongitudinally of the gore, said underlying ply having a means of egresstherethrough, constituted of a narrow, substantially at elongatedaperture circumscribed by elastic stitching and extending from a pointat one edge of the gore, where such stitching is anchored, transverselyof the gore and transversely across the wales in said underlying ply ofmaterial and terminating at a point approximately in the center of thegore.

4. An undergarment as claimed in claim l, including a pair of inelastictapes running along each side of the gore, the elastic stitchingcircumscribing the elongated aperture being secured to one of saidinelastic tapes.

5. A mans undergarment having a front gore constituted of knittedmaterial and adapted to have a portion thereof overlie the private partsof the body when the garment is worn, the wales of material extendingsubstantially longitudinally of the gore, said gore having a means ofegress therethrough, constituted of a narrow, substantially iiatelongated aperture circumsoribed by elastic stitching and extending,from a point at one edge of the gore, where such stitching is anchored,across the wales in said material and terminating at a pointapproximately in the center of the gore.

6. A mans undergarment having a front gore constituted of knittedmaterial and adapted to have a portion thereof overlie the private partsof the body when the garment is worn, the wales of the materialextending substantially longitudinally of the gore, said gore having ameans of egress therethrough, constituted of a narrow, substantiallyiiat elongated aperture circumscribed by elastic stitching and extendingfrom a point at one edge of the gore, where such stitching is anchored,transversely of the gore and transversely across the wales in saidmaterial and terminating at a point approximately in the center of thegore.

7. A mans undergarment having a front gore constituted of two plies ofknitted material and adapted to have a portion thereof overlie theprivate parts of the body when the garment is Worn, the wales of atleast the underlying ply of material extending longitudinally of thegore,

said underlying ply having a means of egress therethrough, constitutedof a narrow, elongated aperture circumscribed by elastic stitching andextending from a point of anchorage in a rm edge of the garmentmaterial, whereby it will, upon release of tension applied in spreadingit, return to its original narrow, elongated, and substantially closed,condition, throughout a portion of the length of said ply in the generaldirection of the wales thereof.

8. A mans undergarment having a front gore constituted of two plies ofknitted material and adapted to have a portion thereof overlie theprivate parts of the body when the garment is worn, the wales of atleast the underlying ply of material extending longitudinally of thegore, said underlying ply having a means of egress therethrough,constituted of a narrow, elongated aperture circumscribed by elasticstitching and extending from a point of anchorage in a firm edge of the`garment material, whereby it will, upon release of tension applied inspreading it, return to its original narrow, elongated, andsubstantially closed, condition, throughout a portion of said ply and ina direction more nearly parallel than perpendicular to the wales of saidply.

ARTHUR M. REIS.

